


winds of change

by nordic_hetalian



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Meteorology, Storm Chasing, TV News, Tornadoes, Weather AU, character list is a WIP!, i did research tho don't worry, i find it fascinating, ok but bear with me i am a huge nerd when it comes to weather, takes place in dallas / ft. worth texas so yeehaw, tho i am not certified in it don't attack me if some things are inaccurate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21610414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nordic_hetalian/pseuds/nordic_hetalian
Summary: Weather AU / A big storm is coming into the Metroplex. There's nothing anyone can do to stop it, not even the most trained of professionals. All you can do is pray.[Inspired by StudioQ's "EF6"]
Relationships: Luxembourg/Monaco (Hetalia), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Kudos: 3





	1. hazardous weather outlook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day before a massive tornado outbreak is expected to take place, meteorologists Dimitri Mladenov and Alfred Jones share their opposing thoughts on the imminent threat. 
> 
> Meanwhile, safety precautions are being issued at the Storm Prediction Center, and they're not looking pretty...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the cast of characters for this chapter:
> 
> NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORKERS:  
> Bulgaria (Dimitri Mladenov)  
> Slovakia (Stefan Pozorny)  
> England (Arthur Kirkland)  
> Portugal (João Madeira)  
> Germany (Ludwig Beilschmidt)
> 
> STORM CHASERS / WEATHERMEN:  
> America (Alfred Jones)  
> Canada (Matthew Williams) 
> 
> STORM PREDICTION CENTER WORKERS:  
> Israel (Dr. Asher Cohen)  
> Iceland (Eirikur Steilsson) 
> 
> Don't worry, though. A lot of these names are canonical and there will not be a test on this!

_May 6, 2020_  
Fort Worth, TX  
7:51 PM C.D.T 

It's not as if they haven't experienced an outbreak before. That certainly wasn't true.

It also was not the kind of outbreak that caused mobs of people to feel weak and ill, nor was it the kind that involved the skin of your face, full of oil and dirt. This was an outbreak in which the viruses and oil were substituted for humid, rotating air. 

Yet, somehow, with all of the types of outbreaks underneath Dimitri Mladenov's belt, he still felt on edge. Tomorrow would likely be a day he (and, for the record, everyone else in Texas) would never forget, and the thought caused him to shiver. He still had so much life left to live, and even if he did survive, all the bright colors of life swirling around him would turn dull and grey.

"Damn, I hope y'all get a nice night of sleep tonight," Stefan joked to the left of Dimitri. "Something tells me we're gonna need it for tomorrow." 

"You may as well just pray whether you'll still have a place to sleep tomorrow." João laughed bitterly. The joke was as dark as hell itself, but Dimitri still snickered as he logged off his computer to end the day's work. The night shift workers would be coming shortly.

And then all of a sudden, it was as if all of the jokey fun had been sucked from the room and thrown into the trash. João wasn't kidding. There was the very real chance that their homes could be blown to oblivion tomorrow. The thought made Dimitri want to pinch himself, praying he was living a nightmare, but he wasn't. 

The small office wasn't large enough for optimism.

"I already want tomorrow to be over," he moaned, putting his head in between his arms. He was very tired and just wanted to go home - having your eyes fried for 8 hours straight due to computer work was truly draining - but now thanks to his coworkers he wouldn't be able to sleep. 

"I'm with you, Mladenov," Stefan agreed. "Perhaps tonight would be a great time to move to, say, Boston and never look back." The two men laughed nervously as another coworker, Arthur, rolled his eyes.

"You two simply have no hope whatsoever," the Brit quipped. 

"But am I wrong?" Stefan raised his eyebrows. "Dr. Cohen up in Norman is saying the risk for strong tornadoes may be the worst it's been since 2011. I'm scared we may have another Moore or Tuscaloosa-esque storm on our hands tomorrow. I love Texas as much as y'all do, but outbreaks like the one we'll have on our hands is going to be terrifying."

Dimitri winced. No meteorologist in the country would be able to forget anything from the Super Outbreak and now he may just experience it again, this time firsthand.

 _Is it too much to ask to weather-proof a city?_ a small part of him pondered.

Arthur clicked his tongue in disapproval. He turned to his computer, scanned over some final forecast details, and frowned. A mass of pink light washed over his face, surrounded by a swirl of red and orange; it looked almost like an enormous radar scan. "I mean, it can't be a coincidence that the high risk was issued yesterday. That's got to be a new record. Even the Super Outbreak was issued the day of."

"Either Cohen's computer broke yesterday or this is going to be one hell of a storm," said João. "Sadly, I think it's the latter."

Dimitri still couldn't comprehend that. Usually SPC risk forecasts as severe as this one were issued the day of the event, almost never earlier than that. In fact, a Day 2 high risk had only ever been issued twice in history. Never before had a Day 3 high risk been issued. If the latest forecast models were showing this system exploding even before yesterday...he didn't even want to think about that. Hopefully the storms would blow over or end up moving fast enough that not much could spin up. It was May, after all, one of the most unpredictable months when it came to severe weather.

The door to the room cracked open, and behind it revealed Ludwig Beilschmidt, one of the evening shift workers who was somewhat of a legend in weather forecasting. He had lived in Germany as a child before moving to the US, and according to another evening shifter Vasch Zwingli, he witnessed some big flood in Germany before getting hooked on weather. He had seen it all: tons of thunderstorms, tornadoes, flash flooding, hurricanes, even that one blizzard last year nobody was expecting.

So it certainly alarmed Dimitri when he saw the fear and anxiety behind the man's eyes.

Ludwig looked around at the four men in the room before clearing his throat. "So, well, I guess you guys should get going. You'll probably need to save your energy for tomorrow."

"Already a step ahead of you, Beilschmidt," said Arthur, already halfway out the door before Ludwig could finish. "See you tomorrow. Hopefully."

"What does he mean, 'hopefully'?" Stefan tried to lighten the drained, pitch-black mood of the room. That idea failed miserably. The light joke zoomed over everyone's foggy minds like a jet plane.

The other men filed out of the room, laptops in hand, leaving Dimitri at the end of the pack with just his computer and his thoughts. He quickly found himself gnawing on the side of his cheek, a nervous habit of his. It wasn't long until he tasted the metallic tang of his own blood.

Rain was beginning to fall outside. It wasn't anything severe, at least for tonight. His green umbrella opened with a click and he enjoyed the sheltering warmth it gave him. He felt protected from the world.

_Better appreciate the world now while you still can._

Dimi didn't consider himself a very religious person, but he threw all that out the window as he stepped into his car. He recited every prayer he could possibly think of. Anything was fair game at this point.

He liked to think he was optimistic. His friends didn't seem to think so, but he thought otherwise. Usually he would at least try to hope for the best. Being a meteorologist had dulled that down to some degree, but he usually had at least a little hope in him.

But this wasn't a "usual" storm system. Now he was nothing more than a shell of the man he knew. All he could do was pray was that he wouldn't die.

So yeah, you could call him terrified.

...

_Dallas, TX  
8:33 PM C.D.T._

In a whole different world, Alfred Jones decided that his weekend chasing trip was a successful one, all-around. He had gotten the amazing opportunity to snap a few pictures of a stunning lightning storm near Lubbock the previous day, and he saw a gorgeous twister come alive out of the same storm not long after. 

It was no question that he and his half-brother, Matthew, made a terrific storm chasing team, and, better yet, the job was one big thrill ride, his favorite. Chasing tornadoes always gave him a burst of adrenaline. He loved feeling that hyper rush as he drove through rural plains, documenting some of the coolest and fiercest weather on the planet.

It was to the point that Alfred actually loved his job. He didn't even think it was work anymore, it was all just a fun, exciting, and fascinating adventure. He was the happiest man alive and nothing could take him down.

"Bro, just look at this picture!" Matthew beamed from the seat next to him. The windshield wipers squeaked against the glass as the rain fell. "The filter makes it look almost ethereal! Out of this world!" He was practically waving the phone in Alfred's face. On the screen was one of the pictures of another tornado earlier in the day. He had managed to find a bluish-violet filter that made it look like something out of a fairytale.

"I know! I hope we get some more tomorrow!" Alfred switched the blinkers on, tuning out of the rain shower, and exited the freeway in a quick moment. It had been a long, long drive, but here he was, back in his sweet ol' hometown of Dallas, Texas. 

Did he mention his love of weather yet? It was to a point where his old buddy Kiku had been sincerely concerned for his well-being. Growing up in northern Texas was no doubt a part of it; a day didn't go by in the summertime without the ticker at the bottom of the screen dinging with a new weather alert. But he had always been fascinated with the strange forces of nature that were tornadoes. He had somehow been able to tear Matthew away from his biology studies long enough to join his tight-knit group of chasers. It was a terrifying task, but someone had to do it. Otherwise, who else would be saving the Metroplex?

Then again, it was also something of a turn-off for a lot of people. Not that the guy was unpopular or anything, just that people thought he was insanely nerdy at times. They were correct. In fact, now that he thought about it, his incessant weather trivia had probably been the reason Kiku moved back to Japan…

Matthew raised his eyebrows. "You sure 'bout that? Tomorrow's a high risk day." The pep from a moment ago had suddenly been replaced with skepticism.

"So? The more storms, the merrier! We gotta get prepared. You got any good restaurant suggestions around here? Wait, doesn't that steak-"

"Uh, Al, we ain't had a high risk here since 2007. And some people are saying tomorrow might be the worst tornado day since 2011. So, I mean, we're gonna have to get ready to possibly see some of the worst storms we've ever–"

"You spoil all our fun," teased Alfred. "Didn't this happen with that storm last year? That outbreak busted balls! It was the wimpiest thing _ever_! What I'm trying to say is you shouldn't be too worried about this whole shabang tomorrow."

He had to stifle a laugh at the memory. It had all culminated in a PDS tornado watch issued for the day, complete with a high risk and everything. The two had been excitedly talking up the possibility of a huge outbreak for days in advance, and then when the day came, they came across no more than 3 tornadoes, and Al didn't even count the first one as an actual twister. It was so weak it had probably ripped up a few blades of fresh prairie grass, tops.

"I mean, if Dr. Cohen knew that this was bad enough to put out the first-ever Day 3 high risk, then it's gotta be bad, but sure. I definitely spoil all your fun. As if you were lacking fun in your life anyway."

"You wound me, Matthew." Alfred drove through the city streets of Dallas, admiring all that was around him. He just adored this little sliver of the world he called home.

The silence in the car was deafeaning.

And so there the two were, sitting in their beloved truck, each staring out the window in thought. It wasn't uncommon to see the two arguing lightly over these kinds of things, so this wasn't much of a wound on Alfred's part. He assumed Matthew was the same way. 

Though, Alfred had to halfheartedly agree with his brother in that high risk days were usually pretty nasty. Not that he'd admit it or anything. His pride was totally getting the best of him right around now.

"Say, you wan' see if Waffle House is open tomorrow?" Alfred blurted out. At last one had spoken. Nothing to get his brother's attention once more than to mention the Holy Land of Waffles itself.

Matthew stared at him with a look of sheer horror in his eyes before speaking. "Who are you and what have you done with my brother? The real Alfred knows how much I put up this battle! Pancakes are better, now change my mind or else you owe me 20 bucks." There he was. The Matthew he knew and loved.

Alfred laughed. Tomorrow really was going to be a great day.

...

_Norman, OK  
9:00 PM C.D.T._

"Doc, could you come to my cubicle for a second? I just checked the latest forecast model and it's looking pretty rough. I need your advice."

As honored as he was, Asher Cohen really hated being called "Doc" about 500 times a day. Technically, his full title was "Dr. Asher Cohen", but it really wouldn't kill to be just "Cohen" or something. The Air Force did it, the rest of the Weather Service did it - hell, even the university did it!

"Sure. Let's take a look."

Eirikur, the intern who had just been the latest offender of this unspoken issue, quickly wove his way through the maze of computers to get to his desk. Despite the use of the forbidden nickname, Asher had to admit that the guy was good. Moving away from all he ever knew and loved to pursue his dream was one of the hardest things to accomplish, but Eirikur took it all in stride.

That hadn't at all been Asher's experience, but that was a story for another day.

The two men arrived at Eirikur's surprisingly messy cubicle. One would have thought this determined immigrant would keep his dream space spotless, but of course this wasn't the case. 

The sticker-covered laptop on the Icelander's desk lit up in a frenzy of pixels and color. "Here's our latest convective outlook on your site."

"Yes, I am aware," Asher said. "Dr. Machado made it and I had to approve it just now. What about it?"

Eirikur took a breath. "It's just – I feel like a 'high risk' doesn't do this system justice. You've been seeing the potential of this on your own forecast for days." He frowned before another button click was heard. "Seriously, just look at these CAPE values. Tell me, have you ever seen a CAPE of 6200 before?"

Asher gawked at the screen. "It's – over 6000? I doubt that's ever happened in the ime I've been here."

"Not to mention the various risk percentages," Eirikur continued, face flushed in pure horror. "Here, this is quoted in one of Machado's posts in the forum. 'The trough, currently located over the deserted plains of New Mexico, has enough instability to cause a multi-scale outbreak of violent and long-tracked tornadoes over Texas. I suggested adding a >95% risk for all types of tornadoes, including significant ones, to Allen Smith and Dr. Yao Wang, to which both agreed.'"

Asher's eyes were already starting to bug out.

"'In addition," continued the other man, "'the CAPE values are high enough to suggest the development of extremely severe lines of storms, which may cause winds gusts in excess of 90 mph and hail greater than 4 inches in diameter. I have also placed a >95% risk for significant hail and wind on this high risk as well.'"

Silence fell upon the cubicle. 

"I – wow." Asher was speechless. "Pardon my French, but Jesus Christ. I'd say in a heartbeat that this one-ups the Super Outbreak in terms of risk percentages. This is unprecedented."

"My point exactly." Eirikur closed his laptop and breathed out heavily. "As I said, I think this warrants more than a high risk. This is too extreme to simply mark off as another normal system."

Asher snapped his fingers. "That's it."

"What?"

" _Extreme_. This kind of thing shall be called an extreme risk." A determined spark shone in Asher's eyes. "I'll update the site now with a new scan."

Eirikur smiled. "Thank you, Doc."

Asher didn't even flinch at that. He had bigger fish to fry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uhhhh…thanks for reading my fangirling about weather? It's a huge passion of mine, and ever since I saw StudioQ's video, I knew I wanted to write about it!
> 
> Speaking of which, if you want a bit more context to the background of this story, go watch the video! "EF6" is the name and it should be one of the first things to pop up on YouTube.
> 
> (I will warn you, though: if you're sensitive to loud noises, tornadoes, or flashing images, that probably isn't the video for you. I'll try my best to tell the story through this, anyway!)
> 
> So yeah, thanks for reading! I appreciate it a lot!


	2. tornado watch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a Dallas news station, famed meteorologist Vlad Popescu tries to balance his life with the safety of millions of people as Nikolas Kostas wonders if it will really be that bad. Little does he know about the storms forming out west.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's our cast of characters for Chapter 2! Some names are anglofied since this takes place in the U.S. 
> 
> KMEX WORKERS:  
> Romania (Vlad Popescu)   
> Hungary (Elizabeth "Eliza" Harvey)   
> Belgium (Emma Dubois)  
> Denmark (Mathias Andersen)
> 
> CIVILIANS:  
> Cyprus (Nikolas Kostas)  
> Greece (Heracles Kostas)
> 
> STORM CHASERS / WEATHERMEN:  
> America (Alfred Jones)  
> Canada (Matthew Williams)

_May 7, 2020  
Dallas, TX  
9:00 AM C.D.T_

"Alright, quiet on the set! We're on air in 3, 2, 1…" 

Cheerful music filled the studio. Anyone listening to it would be totally oblivious to the horrors of the changing world all around them. Vlad Popescu was no exception.

He remembered the first time he watched himself on TV. He had been sitting at home with Andrei, who was mystified that his awesome big brother was the one speaking to him and the entirety of Dallas.

"Mrs. Chernenko told me you had to use a green screen for this!" he exclaimed. "How are you already so good? You're so cool!"

"It must have just been an acquired thing," Vlad winked. "Not everyone is this skilled."

Andrei's mouth had widened to the size of a plate before he burst out laughing. Then Vlad hugged him before becoming normal again.

Nowadays, Andrei wasn't the oblivious little boy he had been back then. He had matured into a kind but depressingly serious man who majored in agriculture at the University of Dallas. Change had never been Vlad's friend, and watching his brother grow up made him feel unsettled inside. Throw in a bunch of confusing and scary political dramas sweeping the nation and you have a man who didn't know where to go next.

His fellow coworkers, Emma and Mathias, plastered on warm but arguably fake smiles as the broadcast began. It was go time.

"Good morning, Dallas!" the duo chimed. 

The show changed voices as quickly as Andrei had grown. Emma stated coolly, "Welcome back to the KMEX News at 9. We're your hosts, Emma Dubois and Mathias Andersen."

"Yes, and our top story this wonderful morning is the weather," said Mathias. "You heard that right, folks. This is a Weather Alert Day for our listening area. Let's go to our chief meteorologist Vlad Popescu. Vlad, how's the radar looking?"

Tolys, the cameraman, switched screens, and suddenly Vlad was being broadcast live to the whole metro. It was his turn to smile. "Yes, Mathias said it. Those of us in the Metroplex have been put under a brand-new kind of threat, called an 'extreme risk'. Now, according to the official statement published this morning from the SPC, they state the following:

_"An extreme risk is to be used under the most dire circumstances, when the risk of violent tornadoes, intense straight-line winds, and very large hail is expected from a storm front._

"Now, unfortunately, this is the sort of weather that will likely be affecting us today. The time frame for when these dangerous storms will enter the metro is said to be between 2 to 3 P.M., though they may arrive a bit later than that. We are expecting a tornado watch to be issued later this morning or early afternoon as the line of storms tracks across western Texas."

He went on to spout out all the weather safety facts fed to him through the TelePrompTer. At least the writers had the brains to put those into the video, he thought to himself.

Finally, he was finished with the segment. Now he could relax for the next 10 minutes as Emma and Mathias jabbered on about whatever God-forbidden news was breaking.

"Thank you, Vlad," said Emma, a little too matter-of factly for Vlad's liking. "As he just said, the risk of extremely severe storms for this afternoon is at unprecedented levels. The lead forecaster at the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma, Dr. Asher Cohen, said on Twitter this morning that these are once-in-a-lifetime conditions."

That was the biggest news flash Vlad had heard all day. Dr. Cohen was arguably one of the most respected weather experts in the country. During the two times Vlad had met him, he was sharing more weather information than Vlad had learned in his four years of college. He had a face of steel and had seen any and all weather events known to man. So if he was even the slightest bit concerned about an outbreak of this magnitude, Vlad wasn't afraid to be a total wuss. He had several reasons to be horrified.

"To keep up with the warnings that may be issued for your area, you can download the KMEX weather app on your phone. It's available on the App Store and Google Play. You can also use it while relocating to a safer location when taking shelter," Mathias said.

Vlad rolled his eyes. What a coincidence that they could do a shameless plug for the station's weather app. So much for a genuine desire of protecting the public. Why do that when you can simply gain clicks and users and money? 

KMEX hadn't even been his first choice in meteorology. He thought he had it in the bag to wind up working at the weather offices in Fort Worth. But after a week of cramped, extreme stress-inducing office work, he gave up and went on the hunt for a better place. Somehow he wound up discovering an ad for an up-and-coming news station needing a meteorologist. 

Now KMEX was one of the hottest news stations to hit the airwaves in North Texas. The producers said it was because of the "unique charm" their new meteorologist had.

That was what pissed Vlad off the most. Did _nobody_ care about all the work he put into his job? Charm was supposed to come second to work, in his eyes. He had always been a hard worker and had inspired Andrei to do the same. But to the producers, he was nothing more than the cool-looking Romanian man who gave them views.

If he admitted his grievances, though, it would have to be to the producers, and the hunt for a new meteorologist would commence without a second thought. 

The cameras in the studio flickered off. Ad break.

"Are you thinking about your tried-and-true ways to end capitalism again?" sneered one of his coworkers.

"Fuck off, Eliza," Vlad retorted. "If we're going to insult each other, we're not getting any work done later in the day. And then I'll blame you when half the state gets swept away by fifty different EF5s. From behind the burned and mangled destruction of our studio, I'll call out, 'It was Elizabeth Harvey's fault! She–'"

"Jesus! Okay! I get it! I'll stop interfering with your plots if you shut up."

Eliza was simultaneously one of the best and worst people Vlad had ever met. She would be helpful and friendly one minute and then be at your throat the next. It was just his luck that she was also a meteorologist and had the exact same hours as he did. Over the years, spats would break out at the most inopportune moments. Vlad was not up for that today.

Today, it was time to work together to save the souls of the Metroplex.

"We're ready for this, aren't we, Eliza?"

"Of course. We've lived through hurricane remnants and strange blizzards and huge tornadoes in the past. What's a little tornado outbreak gonna do to us?"

Her words exhibited power, but Vlad had worked with her long enough to know something was up. This kind of sword of Damocles had never occurred in the years they worked at KMEX. In fact, this particular sword was sharp and ready to kill. No sword had been as deadly since the Super Outbreak.

So who could blame her? When even meteorologists feared such an event, who was alien enough to not be worried? 

The world needed him and Eliza. His behind-the-scenes struggles would be put off for another day.  
...

_Grand Prairie, TX  
9:11 AM C.D.T._

Nikolas Kostas opened his eyes slowly. Sunlight streamed in through the windows before shining on his tired face. Dust particles floated through the air.

Something wasn't right. It hadn't been nearly this bright outside yesterday morning. Not to mention he wasn't tired for once. Unless he had died overnight and he was currently floating around in heaven, he was late for school.

He reached for his phone on the nightstand next to his bed. His notifications were flooded with texts from his friends last night. Two were from random games he forgot to delete a while ago. But there was one that stuck out like a sore thumb.

_From WESTLAND HIGH SCHOOL: All classes and extracurricular activities are cancelled on May 7 due to severe weather threatening the area this afternoon. Stay safe today, Warriors!_

Nikolas' smile widened with every word. He had all the more reason to relax. He could already envision how this wonderful day would go: first, he would get breakfast, then he would challenge his friends to an epic Call of Duty battle, then browse Twitter for a few hours before lunch...

He could even study for finals! It was sure to be a productive day in the Kostas household.

To start his day off right, he headed downstairs to grab some breakfast. He found Heracles in the living room already, studying their television intently as a cat crawled over him.

"Uh, hey, Hera," Nikolas said, awkwardly leaning against the doorframe.

"Oh, hey, Nik. Good morning. You saw the texts?"

"Yeah. I figured you let me sleep in."

"Yep. Why don't you bring your breakfast in here? You should probably check the weather for later before you get too comfy."

 _Oh yeah,_ thought Nikolas. The text had mentioned severe weather was what caused the school to shut down. He couldn't remember the last time that happened. In fact, there was the very real possibility that this was a first for Grand Prairie Schools.

Heracles probably didn't have class today, either. He went to school just a few hours away, but he stayed with Nikolas quite a bit, usually whenever their mom decided it was the perfect time for a vacation getaway. Neither son knew where she would be going off to next. She could be awakening from her latest one-night stand two houses down the road, or she could be climbing Mount Everest. Nobody knew until she came back.

So for the most part, it was just Nikolas, Heracles, and their collection of cats, and that was perfectly alright.

Nikolas ended up creating a strange-looking batch of instant oatmeal before he made his way back into the living room. He unwillingly gulped some down as Vlad Popescu's face filled the screen.

" _–extremely dangerous line of storms will move across the state this afternoon. They will move into the western edge of the KMEX listening area around 2 PM, and we could expect the storms to exit the immediate part of the Metroplex around 3 PM. This is likely going to be a very dangerous day, so be sure you have your safety plan ready if any–"_

Heracles pointed the remote at the TV. A brief moment of static occurred onscreen before a new map of Texas appeared, this time on The Weather Channel. An offscreen reporter voiced over.

_"–historic day. When we invented our TOR:CON index ten years ago, we never expected using the highest risk, a 10, even once, but this is now the second time we have used it. Ladies and gentlemen, North Texas has a TOR:CON of 10 for this afternoon! This means there is a 100% chance of a tornado within 50 miles of a given location in that region today–"_

Back to KMEX. _"–a relatively high risk of flash flooding in and around Dallas with this line of storms. If your area is experiencing flash flooding, do not travel! Turn around, don't drown!"_

Nikolas wasn't even paying attention at that point. Everything had went in one ear and came out the other. All he needed to hear was "storms" and he knew he was safe.

Grand Prairie had to be okay. It was sandwiched in between two of the biggest cities in the country, so the storms would break up before it would reach his house. He would be just fine. He could live his day in peace, and any warnings they got had to be relatively minor. He and Heracles would head down to the basement and continue their day like normal.

That's why focused on eating his breakfast rather than the weather. The sun shining through the curtains agreed with him.

 _Just another day in North Texas,_ he thought.

...

_Abilene, TX  
10:35 AM C.D.T._

A storm had already made its grandiose appearance.

"Didn't they say that squall line was gonna reach Abilene around noon? It ain't noon yet, Matt. Where did this come from?" Alfred asked, confused.

Matthew studied his laptop. The radar loops from Fort Worth and San Angelo played continuously. "Well, it looks like there are a bunch of popcorn cells developing ahead of the line. It looks like we found one."

The brothers had decided to start from the west and head eastward throughout the day. The problem was, they had only decided on this strategy as they walked into their apartment around 8:45 last night, and in order to reach Abilene on time, they had to leave at 5 in the morning. This meant that if they were lucky, they would be getting around 7 hours of sleep. Simple enough, right?

Well, Alfred, being the man he was, had decided otherwise. He occupied himself reading weather forums and calling KMEX's producers to let them know where the best places for chasing coverage would be. So he wound up going to bed no later than 1 in the morning, leaving him running on just under 4 hours of sleep. 

Needless to say, he was relying on coffee, Red Bull, and adrenaline to get him through the day. 

"And here we go!" Matthew yelled as the radio crackled to life. "San Angelo just issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning on this storm. 60 miles per hour wind gusts and half-dollar sized hail. We're already off to a great start."

The adrenaline rush Alfred was craving kicked in. Suddenly he was well-rested and ready for anything. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Matthew practically threw his laptop at his brother before whipping the car into reverse. It would only take a few minutes to reach the eastern boundaries of the warning polygon.

"Check out those clouds," murmured Alfred, typing away at his own computer. "Are those mammatus clouds off to the west? Sick!"

"Wouldn't be surprised," said Matthew, sneaking a peek out the window. 

They drove on. Matthew decided that a gas station parking lot was clearly the best place to wait for the storm to approach. It wouldn't be that long of a wait. Five minutes, tops.

"Damn, this thing isn't taking any shit," said Alfred. "Another chaser in Merkel recorded gusts of 72 miles per hour!"

"San Angelo underestimated this thing. I don't know who thought that was s good idea on a day like today." Thjen Matthew paused a moment. "Jeez! A report just came into the office that there's ping-pong sized hail out in the fields!"

A flash of white made the two men jump. They looked outside just in time for thunder to rattle the inner makings of their bodies.

Minutes passed. Their back-and-forth conversation continued. It only ended when the radio turned back on. _"–tornado warning for northern Taylor County…weather spotters reported a funnel cloud…locations impacted include Abilene–"_

The brothers could only look at each other with fear and excitement gleaming in their eyes. Without a word, Matthew was already peeling out of the parking lot.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where the brunt of the storm was. A funnel cloud loomed over a field a few miles ahead. A wall cloud, seemingly having formed out of thin air, was controlling the funnel like a puppeteer. The sun, still shining behind the car, illuminated the clouds so they were close to pure white.

It was truly a sight to see.

It was why Alfred was here in the first place.

Then, less than a second of awe later, the cloud dropped even further. Now it was hovering over a field. Matthew pulled over into a different gas station, the city limits sign in view. There would be no vacuuming of their car today.

And then, without warning, the funnel dipped into the ground. Dirt flew up into the sky. It bounced and roped and strengthened some more. All the while it maintained its perfect shade of white.

Alfred didn't even think of it as a tornado. It was a ballerina dancing in the Texas fields.

But he forgot one thing. Today, the world was the ballerina's stage.


End file.
